Where did that file go? (Get to grips with the Android file system)

As you know The Framers Pricing App can use a .csv file of moulding information to price up jobs. When you first install the App there is a file that contains all the Wessex and Frinton mouldings, fine if you are in the UK, not very useful if you are in a different country.
The App provides a means for you to install a new file, and so use the mouldings which are relevant to you as well as keeping the prices upto date. (Tap "Settings", then "Misc. Values" and then "Import Mouldings file".)
Of course you have to have constructed the file in the first place (see blog posts Nov. '16 & May '15). This post is primarily about finding that file to import.

The first problem is to get the new Mouldings.csv file onto your device, and there are a number of ways of doing it.

• You could go to a supplier's website and download it from there (assuming they have a compatible file).
• You could send yourself an email with the file attached, and then download the attachment.
• You could copy it onto your device via a usb or bluetooth link with your pc.
• You could copy it from you PC onto an microSD card and then move the card to your device.
• You could construct the file directly on your device.

I'm sure there are other ways as well.

Once the file is on your device the next problem is to find it and for those of us who are used to the Windows file system the Android system seems quite alien.
If you used either of the first two methods then the file will be in "Download" and this is where tapping "Import Moulding file" will take you.

Tap Mouldings.csv to select it, and you're done.
But suppose the file is somewhere different? How do we get to it?
Tap the 2 small dots (above Adobe Reader in the above screenshot) and you will go up a level in the Android file structure (see below).

You can now select "documents" for instance.

If the file is on a microSD card you'll need to move up another level. So, scroll to the top of the list and tap the 2 small dots and you should see a list similar to the one below.

"external_sd" is the one we want. Select that, and the files on that microSD card will be listed.

NB. Get the file onto your device, disconnect any usb or bluetooth connections, then import the file into the App. Frustration will result otherwise!

Important!
If you have downloaded over time a number of update files to the same location without deleting the first one, then they will be labelled "Mouldings.csv", "Mouldings(1).csv" and so on. The App only looks for a file named "Mouldings.csv" and it will ignore all others. So you can be in a position of importing an out of date file. Delete the old file(s) before you import the new one.